Usually run outside, bad weather tried to force cancellation of the Minster Pancake Race, as it had done in Christchurch.

But when Tops nursery got in touch with the Wimborne organisers to ask if the race was still on, the unusual decision was taken to run it indoors. “We couldn’t upset the little kiddies, we had to do something,” said one of the organisers, Anthony Oliver, “and we decided to let them run up and down the nave.”

Things got more complicated when 22 adults arrived. But divine intervention saw them competing individually, being timed for their run down the nave and around the aisles, tossing their pancakes at the four corners. Last year’s winner, Philip Goymer, lifted the trophy after a successful run lasting just 12 seconds. He received the new John Loader Memorial Cup, donated by Martyn and Kathy Curtler, which has replaced the previous, ‘Old Bakehouse’ trophy.

Photography by Tom Scrase. Report by Janine Pulford